Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 3, and 31 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claims 1, 3, and 31; “determining FLT data at any of the plurality of locations above a threshold indicative a presence of cancer cells” should be changed to “determining FLT data at any of the plurality of locations above a threshold indicative of a presence of cancer cells” for grammar.
In claims 1, 3, and 31; “the claims recite generating a report indicating any of the plurality of locations above the threshold as indicative the presence of the cancer cells” should be changed to “the claims recite generating a report indicating any of the plurality of locations above the threshold as indicative of the presence of the cancer cells” for grammar.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1, 3, and 31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claims 1, 3, and 31, the claims recite generating a report indicating any of the plurality of locations above the threshold as indicative the presence of the cancer cells. It is unclear how these any of the plurality of locations above the threshold as indicative the presence of the cancer cells relate to the determined “any of the plurality of locations above the threshold as indicative the presence of the cancer cells” set forth in the previous line. Are these the same locations? A subset of them? The Examiner recommends amending the claims to more clearly indicate the relationship between these indicated locations and the determined locations previously set forth. The Examiner apologies for delaying Allowance with this matter and attempted to contact the Applicant 7/14/2026 for an Examiner’s amendment to address this issue but believes this to be a relatively straightforward issue to fix.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 17-30 are allowed.
Claims 1-4, 6-16, and 31 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
The prior art does not disclose nor reasonably suggest the limitations set forth in the independent claims. Specifically the prior art does not clearly and explicitly disclose acquiring fluorescence lifetime (FLT) data from tissue having received a fluorescent compound; processing the FLT data to determine a FLT signal at each of a plurality of locations across the tissue; determining FLT data at any of the plurality of locations above a threshold indicative a presence of cancer cells; and generating a report indicating any of the plurality of locations above the threshold as indicative the presence of cancer cells, wherein acquiring the FLT data includes acquiring fluorescence data cumulatively from the tissue beginning at a chosen time origin to an end point or to multiple time points in time or acquiring fluorescence data from the tissue at a sequence of consecutive time points starting from a chosen time origin to a chosen end point, wherein the FLT data is given by: yTD (t) = aoe-t/ where yTD (t) is time domain data as a function of time, t, between the chosen time origin and the chosen end point, a0 is a decay amplitude, which is related to fluorophore concentration, quantum yield, and experimental scaling constants, and T is a lifetime of a fluorophore applied to the tissue to elicit the FLT data and wherein the FLT data is given by: yQTD (t) = y(t')dt', where yQTD is the quasi time domain data as a function of time, t, from the chosen time origin to the end point or multiple points in time as set forth in the independent claims.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to John Li whose telephone number is (313)446-4916. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Thursday; 5:30 AM to 3:30 PM Eastern.
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/JOHN D LI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3798
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